Author meets with students, helps judge art contest

Patti Sherlock, the author of "Letters from Wolfie," met with Ms. Weis' third-grade class and Mrs. Ash's fourth-grade class at North Elementary on Friday, Dec 7.

She answered numerous questions about writing and about "Letters from Wolfie," a story of a Vietnam War scout dog. Her dog, Shakespeare, which is a Malamute and German Sheperd mix, served as a model.

"I was inspired by a 'Parade' magazine about war dogs sent to me from my agent. I felt that it had potential for a kids' book and placed the story in the Vietnam War era as I was familiar with it," Sherlock said.

The novel took four years to be published, a year to research, a year to write and rewrite and eighteen months to two years to go through the process to get it published.

"The title was my suggestion and the publisher agreed," Sherlock said.

Sherlock said, "I found the experience sad. The research was sad, going back and looking at where the country was at during that time. It was a tough subject. A tough book."

A signed copy of the book was given to Kelsey Hedrick, the winner of an art contest at the library, "What does Wolfie Look Like?" Her portrait of "Wolfie" now hangs in Sherlock's office.